Designating a single-track haulage system in which one rope (the main rope) is used to pull a set of loaded cars out of a mine, and a tail-rope is used to pull the empty cars back inside.
Origin
Early 20th century.
Definition of main-and-tail in US English:
main-and-tail
adjective
Mining
Designating a single-track haulage system in which one rope (the main rope) is used to pull a set of loaded cars out of a mine, and a tail-rope is used to pull the empty cars back inside.